Growth Hormone Deficiency

[chickpeashead]

My daughter is 14 years old and in her first year of H.S..She is 4'9", app.170 lbs., doesn't have her period, has no hallmarks of puberty,(little or no body hair, no acne, no moodiness) and looks like an 8-10 year old child. Symptoms throughout the years (now that we recognize their possible origin) include: brain fogginess, poor memory skills, social withdrawal, lack of concentration, no ambition /motivation, sluggish/tired.We recently had a battery of tests done by a ped. endocrinologist, including a bone age and a G.H.Stimulation test. We received the results today and tests confirmed that she is barely producing growth hormones at all and her insulin levels are completely off as well. Her blood sugar is fine, the doctor says she is not diabetic. The doctor has ordered an MRI to rule out a tumor. I am beside myself with this possibility and overwhelmed. Any information or advice you can give me on this subject would be helpful. Also, I would like to know, how possible is a brain tumor when a child is growth hormone deficient?

[Deanna L Aftab Guy, MD]

She is definitely short and body weight is too high for her height, glad to see you saw an endo. She is gh deficient and this is a very good reason for central obesity(more weight around the tummy) and short stature!!! Do not feel overwhelmed, this is good news, she has a chance for treatment, the mri is done on all of my patients before treatment is started, the best websites to go over gh include magicfoundation.org and human growth foundation
Do NOT worry about a brain tumor, we want to look at the structure of the pituitary in all of our kids in order to know the reason that they do not make enough gh, she will do well with treatment so talk about it with your peds endo and get going! She will no doubt grow at least an inch her first 4 months of treatment.
You sound like you are in excellent hands.
Good luck, the worst is over!

[weltin]

A related discussion, Advanced bone age was started.

[uglaman1964]

A related discussion, Growth Hormone Deficiency was started.

[chickpeashead]

Thank you so much for the advice! We are waiting for the results of the MRI and should know shortly our course of action. Our Endo assures us she will grow but we are worried about her being so overweight. Can anything be done (medically speaking) besides diet and exercise to help?